Monday, September 15, 2008

Thanks for all the notes. I’ve already ordered “The Feeling Of Being Right” from Amazon and read the article on the preacher Bess on Salon. The thing that bothers me the most about Sarah Palin at the moment is not her tanning bed, it’s the comment I read about her utter lack of curiosity when it came to managing the city and then governing the state. She didn’t care about policy or respect people who were actually doing the hard jobs. She devalued all of it.

I’ve had to take Excedrin P.M.s every night for the last five nights. I am so angry at John McCain. I am so livid with him. He is so careless with our future and so desperate in his own ambition that he has thrown us, possibly, to the wolves. He knows better too. He used to the Republican that knew the dark side, and now he’s joined it. You would think people would get some perspective with age, but he got less of it.

My favorite thing is reading how candidates or candidate’s wives have to revise their “narratives” as new facts come to light. The one I have lately enjoyed is that Cindy McCain used to say that Mother Teresa was at the orphanage when she fell in love with her soon-to-be-adopted daughter, and now she has had to revise it to the orphanage being one of Mother Teresa’s orphanages because Mother Teresa wasn’t there. I read a lot about her drug addictions and how she got her pain killers. God, it’s so bad! It’s really so bad. I mean if this were a screenplay, I would be saying that we couldn’t make the other party be so bad, so completely bad, it would be too unbelievable. But this is real life!

Anyway, let’s get back to Sarah Palin’s lack of curiosity. That is THE unforgivable sin, I think. Bush is not curious either. Facts to these people are simply bits of information that can be used or discarded depending on what they want. There is no spirit of inquiry. There seems to be no true interest in learning anything.

Is it bad that I am gleeful about the banking industry melting down? I heard on Marketplace today that the Lehman Bros. CEO got 40 million dollars last year. They were lamenting pay structures that reward people based on profits over a very short period of time. The commentator was saying that these bonuses should be based on ten years or even twenty years of management that shows growth. The way it is now, there is no incentive to make the company profitable over a long sustainable timetable. That’s the Bush administration. That’s the Republican party right now, doing anything at all to win in the short term, screwing us all just to stay in power at any cost.

What about the morality of the media trainers who have surely been with Sarah Palin non-stop? I am so offended by the lack of morality of these people. Frankly, I am outraged. Why isn’t someone stepping forward? I don’t want to read the books that will be written years from now about these people saying, “Yes, Sarah was an idiot, I had to work with her non-stop to get her up to speed – even just a little bit. But I didn't know then how bad it was going to be.” It’s so immoral of them! Where are the Republicans who can’t stomach it anymore? Why aren’t they talking?

"Both are proposing massive tax cuts, and the spending cuts they're talking about don't come remotely close to paying for them," said Howard Gleckman, senior research associate at the nonpartisan Urban Institute in Washington. "These guys are both making promises they can't possible keep."

Both Obama and McCain are promising economic plans that should be viewed as ways to get themselves elected than plans for governing.

lately i've been absorbed listening tochristopher hitchens and richard feynman;recently i happened upon "god said ha" --didn't know about "letting go of god"till just this now.

i sometimes call this curiosity.

politics lends itself to self-serving acts.but at some point the world needs better --i wonder about potential -- not feymanesquepotential-energy but the potential of what aperson has learned, how they think, and whatthey can do to move society forward.

palin has mass appeal with seemingly zerogravity of thought; mccain has the heightand stature of a hero but seems to havelittle mass appeal; so i calculate theirpotential as approaching zero.

i'd ask god to help us when they get electedbut christopher hitchens -- and now i suspectjulia sweeney -- would scold me.

This morning Huf-Po had a picture of John McCain next to a picture of Chevy Chase. Immediately, I thought...SNL return along side Tina... Based on his comments during his appearance on Morning Joe, I gotta believe he'd consider the role out of civic duty.

He's pretty much my barometer for the Republican take on things, and their spin on all this Palin stuff is incredible.

When she was clearly clueless about what the Bush Doctrine is, Limbaugh's spin was apparently to try and make the case that Charles Gibson has erred in his description of it. When Steve repeated this to me, my reply was "Wow, good thing Gibson isn't running for Vice President, eh?"

McCain to the Republicans is a bit of a compromise. At first, they weren't very happy with the choice. Now that the media have made us all diabetics from the daily diet of sugary sweet Obama stories, they've come together (as they always to) to support him anyway.

None of the Palin controversy seems to phase them at all. To them, she's a good-lookin', hard-drivin', smart cookie who wouldn't have gotten this far if she weren't qualified. They think that firing a man who won't punish her ex-brother-in-law is a sign of strength. They see the money spending scandals as necessary evils to get by in politics, or as Liberal exaggerations. And they side-step her bizarre religious beliefs by pointing out how Obama's pastor ranted and raved like a lunatic (thanks a lot, dude!).

In short, people often come to choose a candidate for reasons that are less than logical, so trying to "logic" them out of supporting him/her is useless. It's very frustrating, I know, but that's how it is.

Palin is being sold as a 'small town' person, while Obama defines himself as a south Chicago community organizer. The meth-infested, city-fearing, religious fundamentalist population of the U.S. far outnumbers that of every other description. Never has the lowest common denominator been so low or so common. As long as McCain/Palin keep their soundbites brief and dominated by emotion, lucidity and veracity won't matter. Karl Rove happily revels in this like a pig in lipstick.

Glad you're blogging again, I've had you in my news reader for a long time and just noticed your slew of new posts.

My wife was a big Clinton fan, and its just unbelievable that Palin is the only woman on the ticket.

BTW: a few posts ago you were talking about psychology & nick names. The best I've heard is McPalin, since she's the sizzle on the ticket -- and like all junk food it might seem to taste good -- but its really bad for you.

Also, a good sign -- I've read that people are starting to leave his rally's after she's done speaking.

-Bob

PS: Hang in there -- I still believe that Obama will win. But, I'm not objective. I work in downtown Chicago and its like Obamaville.

I just saw your special on Pulp Comics this afternoon on Comedy Central. It is so weird to see you talk as a believer now, but it was still very funny! It is also even weirder because that atheist Penn Jillette is the announcer. (Maybe someone--hint, hint--can upload the half-hour program to YouTube or something, since I probably will never get another chance to see that again on TV!)

HA! I just caught Wanda Sykes on The Tonight Show(I'm a couple hours ahead of you). She absolutely cracks me up, and it was hilarious hearing her views on Sarah Palin . . . Wanda is clearly not a fan ; -)Try to catch it if you can...?

SHOWTIME and its affiliates are playing the heck outta "God Said, 'HA!'" lately and it's even BETTER after repeated viewing. I'm catching things that I may have missed in the past and it's just brilliant. I love the monologue form (Spalding Gray IS one of my all-time-faves) so I look forward to seeing the others you've done.

Here's my fantasy: That maybe McCain is actually sabotaging the Republican party with Sarah Palin and his campaigning. Maybe he's really disillusioned by how the party has run aground. Or he's pissed at the dirt bag Republicans who really treated him like crap in 2000. Then he gets into the office and institutes more sane policies. Or maybe he wants Obama to win. (Or maybe he thought Hillary was a shoe-in?) But then, with the race so close, he realized that there's a possibility that he will get elected (OH GOD NO!) so he appointed Palin as the "nu-clar" option.

Yes, Happy Birthday to Julia -- the Libra, not the Virgo. Do you still have the poster? :)

I saw "Religulous" and liked it, but kept thinking "Julia does this so much better."

Everyone in California, please help defeat Prop. 8. I want to marry the person I choose (he said 'yes' but we haven't set the date yet). The out-of-state religious groups have poured millions of dollars into TV ads here and it changed the race. 8 is now ahead in the polls. We need help.

No on 8.

And No on the marriage bans in Arizona and Florida, too. Spread the word.

This selfish lurker misses your posts. Came over to commiserate on this whole hate-filled mess of a seed that's been planted by the McCain/Palin camp. I read Frank Schaeffer's editorial in the Baltimore Sun this morning (via huffington post) and it did make me feel a little better. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/an-open-letter-to-john-mc_b_133489.htmlIt all needed to be said.

Currently, we have the equivalent of two companies running our country. The people have no voice. Our news organizations have become hollowed out baby bottles filled with tabloid culture and whatever scary news is acidic enough to cut through the grease.

It is not time for dirty/ugly politics from the left.

The time is ripe and I am hopeful. The economic trouble may just make things bad enough to make us realize that we've been asleep behind the wheel. We need to demand more of our news media and our politicians, because they are clearly not doing what is right, only what sells.

Can we just talk about Palin's voice? I mean, really. Her voice makes my ears bleed. She's running for V.P., so one might think she'd get a little vocal training and discover how to raise her soft palette. I know this is a petty complaint, and the fact that Palin, and women like her work their hardest to set feminism back 100 years begs as more alarming an issue, but the dying cat voice can't be ignored.

Why is it that when questions are asked about how the U.S. got into this financial crisis, Republicans start complaining that that's talking about the PAST? Don't start assigning blame, they whine. Don't get so partisan and political by asking how the country arrived at this enormous disaster?

Their evasions are so transparent and weak. I thought Republican were the ones harping about the rule of law and accountability back in the Clinton years. I think people who got us into this should be held accountable. And they should not get million dollar spa treatments as a reward.

Many who insist the country is"perfect" are turning into an angry and cynical mob. They might think themselves bright eyed Bush-y tailed (ha)believers and even optimists. I fear they are optimistic about armegeddon,not my idea of a good ending! Personally, I don't think John McCain was ever an ethical icon. He was one of the Keating five and has been building a career on ambition and greed for many years, me thinks. I think BTW, thank you for your thoughtful and intelligent humor. It's such a gift!Irene from Berkeley

Hi Julia,I've missed you for years. I just watched 'God, Ha!', I have tears in my eyes and a smile on my face. I've got cancer. I've poked and prodded for a lpng time. You and your stories of Mike have made me laugh. Maybe it helps I'm a recovering Catholic.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about McCain/Palin. I respect John McCain as a human being and respectfully disagree with his policies, but Palin was a horrible choice and seriously casts my doubts on the sanity of the Republican party.

' Far as I can tell, she's even becoming distanced from her own party platform. She honestly believes in two things:

God, and herself.

Damn the world if we have an evangelist in control of nuclear arms.

I realize I am a bit of a cynic, I guess I've kind of grown into this idea that our government representatives should be something remotely close to real people. =)

I like what you write here. I normally see just photography and spam advertisements on Blogger, so this is really quite a treat.

I look forward to your thoughts on the election. As a resident of Indiana I was ecstatic when PA and OH went blue early as it signaled a night of victory. It was a long overdue night of joy and elation, postponed for eight years- and a lifetime of angst - by the Supreme Court... Barack's Grant Park acceptance speech was very moving. A second dose of joy came when IN was finally called for Barack early Wednesday morning. I am very sorry to see that Prop 8 was voted down in CA confirming that the fight for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is not yet secure for all.

About Me

My book "If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother," published by Simon & Schuster, is out on April 2, 2013. I am doing a film of our show, "The Jill & Julia Show" with Jill Sobule, which will be available by April 1st.

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Shows and Speaking Events

I have several events booked in connection with my book's publication.

1.) Feb. 9, 2013 Saturday Darwin On The PalouseDarwin on the Palouse 2013 There is a free showing of "Letting Go of God." I will be introducing the film and answering questions afterwards. Moscow, Idaho, University of Idaho